Memogate: SC issues arrest warrants for Husain Haqqani

The Supreme Court of Pakistan issued arrest warrants for former ambassador of Pakistan to the United States, on Thursday.

As the hearing of the case went under way, the three-member bench was informed by Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Director General Bashir Memon that they have started the process to nab Haqqani, adding that they have written to Interpol to issue red warrants.

Haqqani had left Pakistan on January 3, 2013, after assuring the court that he would return on a four-day notice.

Haqqani says, "Such political "warrants" have not been honored overseas in the past, and will not work now", adding, "Similar "Made for TV News" warrants issued for Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto in 2006 and former General Pervez Musharraf in 2012 did not work nor were they effective against Mr. Altaf Hussain".

The Memogate scandal erupted in 2011 when Pakistani-American businessman Mansoor Ijaz claimed to have received an "anti-army" memo from Haqqani, the then-Pakistan envoy in Washington DC, for U.S. joint chiefs chairman Admiral Mike Mullen.

"Hussain Haqqani's arrest warrants have been issued as he violated his sworn statement", said one of the judges.

Haqqani, on the other hand, on Wednesday gave clear instructions to his counsel to withdraw from all future Supreme Court (SC) hearings in connection with the Memogate case, saying, "The judiciary holds no relevance in the eyes of the world as it was at its lowest ebb".

The case had reminded the chief justice of Haqqani.

The Supreme Court bench, headed by Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar, resumed the case hearing from February 8. The review petitions have been dismissed on non-prosecution. "Will the court hear this case too?" he wondered. However, why should people such as Haqqani, who have stakes elsewhere, be allowed to vote, Justice Nisar asked.

The Memogate case is based on a "memo" which Haqqani, who now lives in the United States, allegedly gave to a high-ranking American official in May 2011, seeking U.S. help against possible military intervention.

It sought assistance from the USA for the then-Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) government for "reigning in the military and intelligence agencies".

In 2012, a judicial commission tasked with probing the matter had submitted its report to the apex court, holding Haqqani guilty of authoring the controversial memorandum and adding that the former U.S. envoy "was not loyal to the country".

The commission said the goal of the memo was to convince American officials that Pakistan's civilian government was "pro-US".

He, however, did not return to the country and breached his commitment with the court. They had argued that Haqqani maligned Pakistan in the books he wrote, "which proves that he is a traitor".